It’s MOVEMBER – Watch my Mo Grow – @nicholassm1th

What the heck is Movember?

Movember is about raising men awareness of health matters including Prostrate and testicular cancer and mental health.

Male stubbornness and lack of awareness means that….

On average, men die at a significantly younger age than women – the average life expectancy for man in the UK at birth and at age 65 is lower for men than women however there is no biological reason for this. The reasons for the poor state of men’s health in the UK and around the world are numerous and complex.

From Movember’s perspective the reasons for the poor state of men’s health include:

• lack of awareness and understanding of the health issues men face
• men not openly discussing their health and how they’re feeling
• reluctance to take action when men don’t feel physically or mentally well
• men engaging in risky activities that threaten their health
• stigmas surrounding mental health

Movember aims to change the face of men’s health and reverse this way of thinking by putting a fun twist on this serious issue. Using the moustache as a catalyst, we want to bring about change and give men the opportunity and confidence to learn and talk about their health more openly and take action.

Using scary stats to motivate people is not how we roll at Movember, but the facts below are too startling to ignore…

• Men have a 14% higher risk of developing cancer than women and a 37% higher risk of dying from it
• Around 2,300 men in the UK were diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2010
• More than 100 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every day in the UK
• 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year
• Suicide is the single most common cause of death in men under 35
• 25% of men in the UK were categorised as obese in 2011 compared to 13% of men in 1993
• Since 1996 the number of people in the UK diagnosed with diabetes has increased from 1.4 million to 2.9 million
• In England more men than women have been diagnosed with diabetes. 6.3% of men reported that they had diabetes and 5.3 % of women
• Smoking causes around 87% of lung cancer deaths in men in the UK compared to 83% in women
• A study published in December 2011 estimated that smoking causes nearly a fifth of all cancer cases in the UK
• Men are twice as likely as women to abuse or become dependent on alcohol
• A quarter of deaths of men under 34 can be attributed to alcohol
• 6% of men in the UK are “at risk” drinkers – someone who drinks more than 51 units a week

The Movember vision is to have an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health by supporting prostate and testicular cancer and mental health. We focus our efforts on:

• awareness and education
• staying mentally healthy
• living with and beyond cancer
• living with and beyond mental illness
• research

HOW DO WE TAKE ACTION?

Movember’s tagline, changing the face of men’s health, aptly describes both the challenge of participating in Movember – changing your appearance by growing a moustache for 30 days – and the outcome – changing the understanding and attitudes men have towards their health. The Mo is Movember’s ribbon, it’s the catalyst for change.

Some of the funds raised are used to run the annual Movember campaign, which inspires literally billions of conversations. Additionally, some funds are used to create and maintain engaging resources, which educate men on the health risks they face, how to stay healthy and how to take action if they become ill. The Movember website is the ultimate hub for all of this information. Movember also hosts and attends events throughout the year where we deliver health related information in a fun and engaging way.

The Rules-

1. Once registered at Movember.com each Mo Bo must begin the 1^st of Movember with a clean-shaven face.
2. For the entire month of Movember each Mo Bo must grow and groom a moustache.
3. There is to be no joining of the Mo to your side burns, that’s considered to be a beard.
4. There is to be no joining of the handlebars to your chin, that’s considered to be a goatee.
5. Each Mo Bo must conduct himself like a true gentleman…..

I am going for a Trucker – The fearsome Trucker begins with a full brush that hangs like a crowbar over the upper lip. Meanwhile, the ends plummet down to the bottom of the chin framing the mouth in a horseshoe arc.

Day One